The Fuel Cell Model of Abiogenesis: A New Approach to Origin-of-Life Simulations

Barge, Laura M.; Kee, Terence P.; Doloboff, Ivria J.; Hampton, Joshua M P; Ismail, M.S.; Pourkashanian, Mohamed; Zeytounian, John; Baum, Marc M.; Moss, John A.; Lin, Chung‐Kuang; Kidd, Richard; Kanik, I.

doi:10.1089/ast.2014.1140

Cited by 30 publications

(36 citation statements)

References 134 publications

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“…A perspective in which poorly integrated progenotes were engaged in rampant HGT and then evolved towards a Darwinian bottleneck, that could have entailed distinct events of cellularization, is consistent with the notion of convergent evolution [20]. Assuming that similar, if not identical, processes of far off-equilibrium phenomena involving geochemical gradients in aqueous environments [14,21,22], could have led repeatedly to the emergence of life in comparable, ancient planetary habitats, alien organisms should have experienced a phase of extensive HGT and ensuing (multiple) cellularization too. From this point onwards it becomes exceedingly difficult to reasonably predict what kind of adaptations putative life, for example, on the icy moons of Jupiter and Saturn, Europa and Enceladus, or on a far-away exoplanet, would evolve in the course of their history.…”

Section: Introductionsupporting

confidence: 53%

Convergent evolution and the search for biosignatures within the solar system and beyond

Martinez

2015

Acta Astronautica

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Section: Introductionsupporting

confidence: 53%

Convergent evolution and the search for biosignatures within the solar system and beyond

Martinez

2015

Acta Astronautica

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“…Of particular note is the potential to enable assembly of oligomers into membrane-like films capable of sustaining pH gradients (Fig. 5D), a precursor to establishment of basic metabolic processes (33). Finally, we remark that a diverse array of processes beyond prebiotic biochemistry can be catalyzed in hydrothermal microenvironments.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 85%

Synchronized chaotic targeting and acceleration of surface chemistry in prebiotic hydrothermal microenvironments

Priye

Hassan

et al. 2017

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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Porous mineral formations near subsea alkaline hydrothermal vents embed microenvironments that make them potential hot spots for prebiotic biochemistry. But, synthesis of long-chain macromolecules needed to support higher-order functions in living systems (e.g., polypeptides, proteins, and nucleic acids) cannot occur without enrichment of chemical precursors before initiating polymerization, and identifying a suitable mechanism has become a key unanswered question in the origin of life. Here, we apply simulations and in situ experiments to show how 3D chaotic thermal convection-flows that naturally permeate hydrothermal pore networks-supplies a robust mechanism for focused accumulation at discrete targeted surface sites. This interfacial enrichment is synchronized with bulk homogenization of chemical species, yielding two distinct processes that are seemingly opposed yet synergistically combine to accelerate surface reaction kinetics by several orders of magnitude. Our results suggest that chaotic thermal convection may play a previously unappreciated role in mediating surface-catalyzed synthesis in the prebiotic milieu.thermal convection | prebiotic biochemistry | hydrothermal vents | chaos S ubsea hydrothermal microenvironments uniquely embed catalytically active mineral surfaces in the presence of thermal and chemical gradients, establishing disequilibrium pathways essential for emergence of biochemical complexity (1-3). Synthesis of organic monomers, for example, can be supported in these systems via pH conditions that favor hydrogen-dependent redox processes similar to the CO 2 reducing acetyl-CoA biochemical pathway (4). The recent discovery of alkaline vent systems [e.g., Lost City vent, mid-Atlantic ridge (5, 6)] has generated particular excitement because geochemical serpentinization yields surroundings abundant in hydrogen at moderate temperatures (150-200°C) (Fig. 1A). These attributes, combined with the excess hydrogen's ability to exothermically reduce carbon dioxide into methane, have fueled interest in elucidating the role of alkaline vents in orchestrating synthesis of prebiotic chemical precursors critical to the origin of life (4, 7).But, a favorable chemical environment alone is not sufficient to drive macromolecular synthesis owing to the extremely dilute concentrations of precursor compounds in the prebiotic ocean (8-11). Recent studies have explored the combined action of laminar (2D) thermal convection and thermophoresis as a physical enrichment mechanism, albeit in hairline-sized fissures (diameter d ≤ 100 μm) under steep thermal gradients (100-1,000°C/mm) (12-15). In contrast, surprisingly complex 3D flows characterized by chaotic thermal convection (16, 17) emerge over a broader pore size range [millimeters to centimeters, consistent with porosities in young active carbonate chimneys (18)] and under moderate temperature gradients (0.1-10°C/mm) (19,20) (Fig. 1A and SI Appendix). Here we apply simulations and in situ experiments to show how chaotic thermal convection under conditions mimi...

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“…Yamaguchi et al (2014) reported the FeNiS-catalyzed synthesis of CO and methane under simulated alkaline vent conditions, while Herschy et al (2014) obtained CO and formaldehyde. Simulated hydrothermal vents, while so far falling short of spewing forth vitamins, bases, and proteins, do produce compounds that are central to acetogen and methanogen metabolism, and they produce electrochemical gradients (Barge et al 2014), which Mike Russell (Russell and Hall 1997) has been saying all along are essential for early life.…”

Section: Early Microbial Evolutionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Early Microbial Evolution: The Age of Anaerobes

Martin

Sousa

2015

Cold Spring Harb Perspect Biol

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In this article, the term "early microbial evolution" refers to the phase of biological history from the emergence of life to the diversification of the first microbial lineages. In the modern era (since we knew about archaea), three debates have emerged on the subject that deserve discussion: (1) thermophilic origins versus mesophilic origins, (2) autotrophic origins versus heterotrophic origins, and (3) how do eukaryotes figure into early evolution. Here, we revisit those debates from the standpoint of newer data. We also consider the perhaps more pressing issue that molecular phylogenies need to recover anaerobic lineages at the base of prokaryotic trees, because O 2 is a product of biological evolution; hence, the first microbes had to be anaerobes. If molecular phylogenies do not recover anaerobes basal, something is wrong. Among the anaerobes, hydrogen-dependent autotrophs-acetogens and methanogenslook like good candidates for the ancestral state of physiology in the bacteria and archaea, respectively. New trees tend to indicate that eukaryote cytosolic ribosomes branch within their archaeal homologs, not as sisters to them and, furthermore tend to root archaea within the methanogens. These are major changes in the tree of life, and open up new avenues of thought. Geochemical methane synthesis occurs as a spontaneous, abiotic exergonic reaction at hydrothermal vents. The overall similarity between that reaction and biological methanogenesis fits well with the concept of a methanogenic root for archaea and an autotrophic origin of microbial physiology.

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The Fuel Cell Model of Abiogenesis: A New Approach to Origin-of-Life Simulations

Cited by 30 publications

References 134 publications

Convergent evolution and the search for biosignatures within the solar system and beyond

Convergent evolution and the search for biosignatures within the solar system and beyond

Synchronized chaotic targeting and acceleration of surface chemistry in prebiotic hydrothermal microenvironments

Early Microbial Evolution: The Age of Anaerobes

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